Currently sitting on a balcony
overlooking a side street in
Gulu. Aside from the jackhammer,
its quite peaceful up here, away from the hussle and bussle of busy Gulu
Town. For the past week we have
been exploring and getting situated with the area both with the group and on
our own. We have taken both a
driving tour and done a “drop off” activity where we are on a mission to
investigate an assigned topic.
For mine, Eliza and I were paired up to investigate clinics and health
centers. We found a ton of smaller
places along the road, but their credibility was skeptical. However, there were more trusted
places, like the hospital and a large HIV/AIDS counseling/treatment center that
are reputable. A large problem
here is that despite the numerous clinics, there is a great mistrust in the
professional places so people often turn to the more ‘witch’ type doctors,
resulting in poor care, infection and death.
My current view from the balcony
So
last night, after 4 days of acclamation to Gulu, we were introduced to our
families! My household roughly has
5 people living there. My “Dad”
is named Jon Bosco. Aside from
being the Director of CARITAS, a Catholic relief organization (called CRS in
the US), he is also the home-stay coordinator for SIT in Gulu. I am their 7th student to
live with him and his wife so they are very comfortable and open with me about
their rules and expectations.
Rose, my “Mama” has her own organization that focuses on helping
children in at-risk situations, like domestic violence, street children,
etc. Rose is so kind and has been
introducing me as her “first born” as her children are all younger than
me. She also is very outgoing,
different from many women here, and jokes about everything. She is from the South so does not
speak much Acholi.
My new roommates are also very
nice. First there is the
niece. She is 18 named Janice. She enjoys having secret phone calls throughout the night with her friends.... Right now, she’s living with the family
while she teaches in a school in preparation to become a real teacher later
on. In exchange for the bed, she
does all the cooking, cleaning, and child care in the house. Then there are the twins. Marina and Michelle are four and full
of energy. Everyone asked me why
my hands are covered in blue ink and I just responded “4 year old twins.” They really got a kick out of drawing
all over me with permanent ink.
There is also a 7 year old, named Bridget, who goes to boarding school
in Kampala. I may get to meet her
later in the program.
Now I’m getting ready for the
weekend with them. They are fun
people so I look forward to what we will do! Last night we had an adventure when our trip to the grocery
ended up across town. We ran out
of gas so obviously the logical thing to do would be to sit and have soda with friends in a nearby store until someone can take us home. All in all, Rose and Bosco are very friendly, fun people, and I'm looking forward to the time with their family!
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